President Obama will make no triumphal speech when he visits Ground Zero on Thursday to mark the death of Osama Bin Laden - the monster who brought the Twin Towers down.
Instead, Obama will lay a wreath in the memory of the thousands who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and save his words for private chats with relatives and friends of the victims gathered in the crucible of New York City's pain.
"The power of that requires no words," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the planned wreath-laying ceremony. "It will be a bittersweet moment for many of the families."
Obama is expected to spend about three hours at Ground Zero - his first visit to the site since 2008, when he was running for president.
The President has marked subsequent 9/11 anniversaries in Washington and was expected to return to New York this September for the 10th anniversary.
The successful killing of Bin Laden on Sunday, which capped a frustrating, decade-long manhunt for the terrorist, changed Obama's itinerary, officials said.
Before going Downtown, Obama will meet with some of the city's Bravest who lost colleagues in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although the police have received no credible reports of threats against Obama, there will be numerous street closings wherever the presidential motorcade rolls, sources said.
Mailboxes and garbage cans along the motorcade route will be removed to deny would-be terrorists a place to plant a bomb - and manholes covers may be welded shut.
Police sharpshooters will be patrolling the rooftops, sources said.
In addition to a "major uniformed police presence," sources said plainclothes cops will be out in force to protect the President.
Also, PATH service in and out of the World Trade Center will be suspended while Obama is in the neighborhood.
Obama's visit comes just days after he green-lighted the Navy SEAL assault that wiped out Bin Laden at his hideout in Pakistan.
Obama's upcoming visit harkens back to then-President George W. Bush's journey to the site days after the 9/11 attacks, when he famously grabbed a bullhorn and rallied the nation from atop the pile of rubble.
Bush, who was one of the first people Obama called when Bin Laden was bagged, declined an invitation to join in the visit to Ground Zero.
Obama has also invited Rudy Giuliani, who was New York's mayor during those dark days, sources said.
With Celeste Katz, Rocco Parascandola and Kenneth Lovett
agendar@nydailynews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment